Graeme Goodall (1932 – 3 December 2014) was an Australian recording engineer and record label owner who was a key figure in the early days of Jamaica's recording industry, constructing several of the Island's studios, co-founding Island Records, and operating other labels in the United Kingdom releasing Jamaican music.
He began recording local musicians at the Radio Jamaica studios, and went on to build Federal Records, Jamaica's first recording studio (which was rebuilt in 1961 and later became Tuff Gong Recording Studio) with local entrepreneur Ken Khouri to the rear of Khouri's furniture store on King Street.[2][4] Goodall worked as a recording engineer for Ken Khouri on some of the earliest Jamaican studio recordings.[2] The studio not only provided the Island's first recording facility but also produced acetate discs, allowing sound system operators to record tracks and have them available to play within hours.[5]
In 1959 he co-founded Island Records with Chris Blackwell and Kong, but his relationship with Blackwell broke down and he went on to start his own labels after relocating to the UK in 1965, the most successful of which were Doctor Bird and Pyramid.[6] After Dekker's "Poor Me, Israelites" proved popular in clubs but failed to get much airplay due to its production, Goodall got Kong to send him the master tapes; he remixed it and released it in the UK in 1969 on Pyramid as "Israelites", the single going on to top the UK Singles Chart and sell over two million copies.[2][7][8][9] He also ran West Indies Records and set up the Trojan Records subsidiary Attack Records.[10][11]
Goodall married his Jamaican wife Fay in 1961 and in the early 1970s they moved to the US.[2][3] Goodall later worked as Southern Regional Manager for Sony Pro Audio.[2][12]
Graeme Goodall died at his home in Atlanta, Georgia on 3 December 2014 from natural causes, aged 82.[2][13] He was survived by his wife, two children, and four grandchildren.[2][14]
References
^Veal, Michael (2007) Dub: Soundscapes and Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae, Wesleyan University Press, ISBN978-0819565723, p. 49
^De Koningh, Michael & Cane-Honeysett, Laurence (2003) Young, Gifted and Black: The Story of Trojan Records, Sanctuary Publishing Ltd., ISBN978-1860744648, p. 118
^Sullivan, Steve (2013) Encyclopedia of Great Popular Song Recordings, Scarecrow Press, ISBN978-0810882959, p. 708
^O'Brien Chang, Kevin & Chen, Wayne (1998) Reggae Routes, Temple University Press, ISBN978-1566396295, p. 122